Various electronic instruments are installed in a moving body such as an automobile to enable various types of vehicle control. One example of these types of vehicle control is an idling stop system. In recent years, vehicles installed with an idling stop system (also known as an eco-run system) have been put to practical use to achieve reductions in the exhaust gas and fuel consumption of vehicles having an engine.
In the control performed by the aforesaid idling stop system, the engine of the vehicle is stopped automatically when the vehicle stops at an intersection or the like (due to a red light or the like), for example. To resume travel, a driver of the vehicle depresses an accelerator pedal, depresses a clutch pedal, releases a brake pedal, or switches a shift lever to a forward travel position (a D range in the case of an automatic vehicle, for example), for example, whereby the engine automatically restarts. Note that a state in which the control (engine starting/stopping) performed by the idling stop system is underway will be referred to hereafter as an idling stop mode.
An apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-138221 (JP-A-2006-138221), for example, is available as an example of the aforesaid idling stop system.
In the apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2006-138221, an engine of a vehicle is stopped and restarted when the state of the vehicle satisfies a predetermined condition. More specifically, in the apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2006-138221, the engine is restarted from an idling stop state (an engine stoppage) when information indicating the state of the vehicle (a vehicle speed of the vehicle and so on) or information obtained in response to a driver operation (whether or not a brake or a clutch is depressed, whether or not a transmission has been operated, and so on) satisfies a preset condition.
In addition to the idling stop system described above, a push start system exists as another example of the various types of vehicle control executed by the electronic instruments installed in an automobile.
In a typical push start system, each successive time a driver carrying an electronic key (also known as a smart key) in a cabin of a vehicle presses a push button while inside the cabin, a power supply of the vehicle can be turned ON and OFF, an accessory switch (ACC) can be turned ON and OFF, an ignition switch (IG) can be turned ON and OFF, and the engine can be started and stopped.
Here, a vehicle installed with both the aforesaid idling stop system and the aforesaid push start system, for example, is envisaged. In a vehicle installed with both the idling stop system and the push start system, the engine is started and stopped automatically in the idling stop mode, as described above. However, when the engine of the vehicle stops for some reason in a state where control by the idling stop system is not underway (to be referred to simply as a normal mode hereafter), the user must press the push button to restart the engine. In other words, when the engine of the vehicle stops for some reason in the normal mode, the engine must be restarted by pressing the push button, whereas in the idling stop mode, the engine is started and stopped automatically.
Therefore, typically, when a hood of an engine room in a vehicle installed with an idling stop system such as that described above is opened during an idling stop (while the engine is stopped) in a state where control by the idling stop system is underway, the idling stop mode is canceled and the aforesaid normal mode is re-established.
Power required by the various onboard electronic instruments is typically supplied from an onboard storage battery, and therefore, during an idling stop (when the engine is stopped), a depth of discharge of the onboard storage battery (a lead storage battery, for example) increases. Hence, in the control performed by the idling stop system, the engine is occasionally restarted in order to charge the storage battery during an idling stop. Accordingly, when the hood of the engine room of the vehicle is opened during an idling stop, the idling stop mode is canceled, and in so doing, a situation in which the engine is started in order to charge the storage battery (battery), for example, while the engine room is open and an engine room inspection is underway can be prevented from occurring. As a result, the convenience of the user (worker) is not impaired.
However, when the push button is pressed with the intention of turning the power supply of the vehicle OFF while the hood of the engine room is open, the engine is started.
JP-A-2006-138221 does not take the open/closed state of the vehicle hood into account in the condition for restarting the engine from an engine stoppage and does not envisage a vehicle installed with a push start system.